Perkins Eastman says the complexity of its healthcare projects has increased with overall demand for quality. (Photo Courtesy of Perkins Eastman)

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At Perkins Eastman, becoming a niche player in the architecture and design industry – not to mention one of the top-10 firms in the world – happened by carefully selecting projects that stand out in the communities in which they are located, Principal Susan DiMotta says.

Through organic growth, the New York-based firm has established 10 full-service locations in the United States and abroad.  While healthcare and senior living account for roughly 40 percent of its annual business, it also practices in the areas of education, housing, corporate interiors, retail/mixed-use, public sector facilities and cultural institutions.

Throughout its 27-year history, Perkins Eastman has approached each healthcare project by developing an understanding not only of its client’s business model, but also of the stringent healthcare regulations and codes that take priority when conceptualizing a project’s design, DiMotta says.      

“We take an integrated approach in the healthcare market,” DiMotta explains, adding that the interior designers account for everything from a facility’s floor and upholstery finishes to the coordination of the electrical outlets and lighting.

Pre-planning and project execution strategies help the firm tackle project challenges ranging from space constraints to tight budgets. “When you get into Manhattan, where costs are $250 to $300 per square foot, you don’t get as much bang for your dollar, so it’s a challenge to place those high-end finishes and still maintain the aesthetic of the back-service areas,” DiMotta explains.

“Good documentation is the foundation of any project going smoothly, but sometimes clients have aggressive expectations and schedules, so the key is that we try to build an effective team of consultants and in-house experience and expertise that can bring their collective talents to bear on the project and meet the challenges head-on.”

“We are good listeners, we are responsive to a project’s demands and we don’t come in with a cookie-cutter approach to doing things,” DiMotta asserts. “We strive to accommodate the client’s own standards into our inventive, functional and responsive design.”

A Community Facility
As the need for quality healthcare increases, so, too, has the complexity of Perkins Eastman’s projects. The company put its skill sets to the test in mid-2006 when it became the architect for Mt. Sinai’s new Center for Advanced Medicine in Manhattan.

The goal: reinvent a parking garage built in 1925 into an innovative interior design that provides patients with a serene environment, while helping the provider establish an identity consistent with the community.

Working in a design/build partnership with New York City-based Morgan Construction Enterprises Inc., Perkins Eastman is converting 140,000 square feet of existing parking, offices and storage to provide room for roughly 40 relocated clinics, research labs and administrative departments at the center. Beyond its long-term history of working with Mt. Sinai on other projects, Perkins Eastman was selected on its healthcare design merits.

“It was critically important that it was a firm that had extensive experience in healthcare and in ambulatory healthcare,” Mt. Sinai VP of Ambulatory Services and Rehabilitation Medicine Maureen Van Benthuysen says. “They have done a number of other ambulatory programs throughout the city.”

According to Van Benthuysen, the purpose of the expansion was to “provide modern and convenient facilities for our neighbors and community, easy access to modern, state-of-the-art facilities and, at the same time, it has absolutely allowed us to extend the campus and better manage the capacity challenges.”

Design Challenges
One challenge for Perkins Eastman was designing a feature atrium in approximately 400 square feet of space where a portion of the parking garage had once stood. After demolishing the half-level ramps that once directed traffic, the firm was left with columnar space extending through each of the lower six stories.